For the first time in over a thousand years, locals in a rural part
of Sulaymaniyah province conducted an ancient ceremony on May 1, whereby
followers put on a special belt that signifies they are ready to serve
the religion and observe its tenets. It would be akin to a baptism in
the Christian faith.

The newly pledged Zoroastrians have said that they will organise
similar ceremonies elsewhere in Iraqi Kurdistan and they have also asked
permission to build up to 12 temples inside the region, which has its
own borders, military and Parliament. Zoroastrians are also visiting
government departments in Iraqi Kurdistan and they have asked that
Zoroastrianism be acknowledged as a religion officially. They even have
their own anthem and many locals are attending Zoroastrian events and
responding to Zoroastrian organisations and pages on social media.

Although as yet there are no official numbers as to how many Kurdish
locals are actually turning to this religion, there is certainly a lot
of discussion about it. And those who are already Zoroastrians believe
that as soon as locals learn more about the religion, their numbers will
increase. They also seem to selling the idea of Zoroastrianism by
saying that it is somehow “more Kurdish” then other religions –
certainly an attractive idea in an area where many locals care more
about their ethnic identity than religious divisions.

I don't know to what degree this overstates the supposed trend; it seems to be regionally localized and there are no numbers cited. And Zoroastrians traditionally do not proselytize, though that is perhaps a response to living in Islamic-dominated areas.

A few side thoughts, however. While orthodox Zoroastrianism itself has much declined in the Middle East proper there are a number of small, syncretiistic religious groups in Iran, northern Iraq, and Eastern Turkey that incorporate elements of Zoroastrian tradition, including to a greater or lesser degree the Yazidis and Shabak in Iraq, Alevis in Turkey, ‘Ali-Elahis and Ahl-e Haqq (Yarsanis) in Iran, and even the Syrian ‘Alawites, Most have secret or semi-secret doctrines and retain elements of Zoroastrianism, Mazdakism, Mithraism, or other Ancient Persian beliefs overlaid with elements of Shi‘ite or Sufi Islam. The strong influence of Sufi orders in Kurdistan (Naqshbandi and Qadiri foremost among them) also may predispose many to an openness to heterodox ideas. During the siege of Jabal Sinjar and the Yazidis, I considered writing more about these small, syncretist, heterodox groups whose links to Islam are tenuous at best, and will get to that eventually.

[Zoroastrianism] was founded by Zoroaster, also known as Zarathustra, who was born in
the Kurdish part of Iran and the religion’s sacred book, the Avesta, was
written in an ancient language from which the Kurdish language derives.

Most linguists class Avestan as originating in northeastern Iran not Kurdistan, All the ancient Indo-Iranian languages derive fom a common origin, but modern Persian has at least as much claim as Kurdish to "derive" from Avestan.

Biographical details of Zoroaster/Zarathustra/Zardusht are much disputed. The various scriptures were composed at varying times, and there is some uncertainty about dating the Prophet, even to whether he belongs in the First or Second Millennium BC. So too, there is uncertainty about his birthplace. Many older traditions point to northwestern Iran, to Azerbaijan or to Rayy in Media, near Tehran. But others point to northeastern Iran and even Central Asia, and the language of the Avesta is Eastern. The Encyclopedia Iranica has extensive treatment of the uncertainties of Zoroaster's history.

In any event he represents a religious figure and culture hero to not just Persian speakers but to speakers of other Iranian languages, including Kurdish. Claiming him as a Kurd may not reflect the consensus of Zoroastrian Studies scholars, but then, there really is no consensus of Zoroastrian Studies scholars on where he was born, or even exactly when.

Update: For more see Brian Ulrich's comments in the Comments, and the link.

2 comments:

Ages ago, in a blog post on the Yezidis (http://bjulrich.blogspot.com/2014/08/yezidi-pilgrimage.html), I called attention to the role of an Iranian religious substrate surviving in the mountains from eastern Anatolia into Iran. This has been most thorough studied, of course, by Patricia Crone. It wouldn't surprise me if some element of Kurdish nationalists are therefore picking up on Zoroastrianism as an authentically Kurdish religion. I agree, though, the reporting on Kurdish religious trends has a habit of portraying local phenomena as something more widespread.

"Michael Collins Dunn is the editor of The Middle East Journal. He also blogs. His latest posting summarizes a lot of material on the Iranian election and offers some sensible interpretation. If you are really interested in the Middle East, you should check him out regularly."— Gary Sick, Gary's Choices

"Since we’re not covering the Tunisian elections particularly well, and neither does Tunisian media, I’ll just point you over here. It’s a great post by MEI editor Michael Collins Dunn, who . . . clearly knows the country pretty well."— alle, Maghreb Politics Review

"I’ve followed Michael Collins Dunn over at the Middle East Institute’s blog since its beginning in January this year. Overall, it is one of the best blogs on Middle Eastern affairs. It is a selection of educated and manifestly knowledgeable ruminations of various aspects of Middle Eastern politics and international relations in the broadest sense."— davidroberts at The Gulf Blog

"Michael Collins Dunn, editor of the prestigious Middle East Journal, wrote an interesting 'Backgrounder' on the Berriane violence at his Middle East Institute Editor’s Blog. It is a strong piece, but imperfect (as all things are) . . ."— kal, The Moor Next DoorThis great video of Nasser posted on Michael Collins Dunn’s blog (which is one of my favorites incidentally) ...— Qifa Nabki